Cold, windy conditions make an impact at Houston Open
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HUMBLE, TEXAS - OCTOBER 11: Sepp Straka of the United States smiles as he walks from the 12th tee during the second round of the Houston Open at the Golf Club of Houston on October 10, 2019 in Humble, Texas. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
HOUSTON – It wasn’t the coldest day in Houston Open golf history; after all, this tournament has been played as early as February and as late as the week before Thanksgiving.
And it wasn’t the windiest day, although gusts did reach upwards of 30 mph.
And it probably wasn’t the toughest day – but it was definitely tougher in Friday’s second round at the Golf Club of Houston than it was in the opening round. Almost two strokes tougher, in fact.
Thanks to a strong cold front that arrived mid-morning – bringing rain and isolated thunderstorms that forced a 2-hour suspension – golfers found it difficult to not only break par, but stay warm in temperatures that dropped into the mid-50s.
The stroke average on Friday was 73.438. It was 71.510 on Thursday at the par-72 course. Afternoon golfers, once they got on the course, felt the brunt of the conditions.
Of the 11 golfers who managed to complete their rounds before darkness suspended play, just one – Scott Brown with a 69 – broke 70. Two others were at 71. The other eight did not break par.
“It was tough out there,” said Sepp Straka after his afternoon 71 left him at 8 under through two rounds, two shots behind leader Peter Malnati. “It was cold, it was windy, completely different from yesterday morning. Yeah, it was a grind.”
Mark Hubbard was one of the morning finishers, and he moved up the leaderboard with a 69. Still, he had to encounter the changing conditions mid-round.
“It was weird,” he said. “I was sweating through my gray pants this morning at 7 a.m. and by about our 13th hole, I wished I had another jacket.”
Malnati also went off early, and he made the biggest move with a 65 that left him at 10 under and with the solo lead. Talor Gooch, one of the 18-hole co-leaders, is a stroke back.
“I went out just purely with the plan of I’m going to give my best effort all the time no matter what,” Malnati said. “… When the weather was good, trying my best on every shot resulted in 5 under through five and then when the weather turned after our long delay, that trying my best on every shot turned into 2 under through my last 13 – and that was still pretty darn good.”
The 453-yard par-4 18th hole turned particularly nasty into the wind. It played to a stroke average of 4.891, making it the hardest hole on the course Friday. No player managed a birdie in the 110 players who played the hole.
“They moved the tee box two up, so I don’t even think there was another tee box they could have moved it to,” Hubbard said, who noted that after his 238-yard tee shot found the rough near the fairway bunker, he was basically playing for bogey.
His playing partners each made par using 3-woods with their approach shots. “I said ‘Good birdie’ to both of them,” Hubbard said. “At that point, I think that was my first bogey of the tournament – and in my mind, I was still bogey-free.”
Of the 59 players still left on the course, just eight are at 2 under or better for the rounds.
The good news, though, is that they should get improved scoring conditions once play resumes at 9 a.m. ET. The third round will then go off two tees in threesomes starting at approximately noon ET.